Wednesday, May 30, 2012

My buddy Foster took some great photos of some of the events surrounding the UVM 2012 commencement, and I know that some of you will love to see them, so here they are.

We captioned six major ceremonies this year, over three days: College of Arts and Sciences Honors Ceremony; Graduate College Commencement and Hooding Ceremony; Honors College Commencement Ceremony; Main Commencement Ceremony; College of Arts and Sciences Commencement; College of Medicine Commencement. We captioned them live on large screens -- the indoor ceremonies on 6-foot screens, and the outdoor ones on the jumbotrons -- and all the ceremonies were streamed live on the internet, with captions. This was a record for ceremonies captioned surrounding UVM graduation.

I did them all.

It was a lot. I wasn't sure I'd be able to manage it all, what with all the hours and hours and pages and pages of prep that needed to be done. We had a couple of logistical problems getting from one location to another in the time we had, but with outstanding teamwork and support from all the people at UVM Conference and Event Services, the University ACCESS Department, and the regular team of IT, AV, and television professionals I work with, not only did we do it -- we had the best and most successful weekend of events we've ever had.

We didn't get photos from all the events, but here are some we did get, complete with a few shots of actual captions as they appeared live on the screens.

This is Eric, me, and Foster, set up for our third and final day of events. This is the biggy -- the Main Ceremony. We're set up in a nice tent to protect us from the sun and heat, on the university green.

We are the core captioning team. Eric is the videographer, Foster is the broadcast engineer who I nominated for knighthood after the weekend was over. The three of us work incredibly well together, and always have since January of 2007.

This is me and Eric again, and in the background is another important team member, standing on the left of the two people there -- Roger. Roger's the guy who delivers the AV equipment and screens to the right places at the right times, and sets it all up and makes sure all is copacetic <---- his favorite word.

Things are just getting started in this photo. Note my smile and relaxed look.

And we're off!

Now things are in full swing. Note the look of concentration on my face. Do not try to break my concentration, for I am a captioning ninja!

Oh, cripes. You've got to be kidding me. Surprise speakers at the end: Tom Kenny and Bill Fagerbakke, the actors who voice SpongeBob SquarePants and his sidekick Patrick Star. Their boss, Cyma Zarghami, was the main speaker. I am sure I made complete hash of their rap presentation. Complete hash. And wouldn't you JUST KNOW: I heard later that THIS was the exact thing that the local news decided to put up in their coverage of the event, including a flash-by of my captions. Ugh.

So anyway.

The first ceremony is completed, and now we are sweaty, thirsty, hungry, and exhausted, and it's only 11-something a.m. We've been going straight out since 7. Under direction of Sharon from the ACCESS Department, who takes very good care of me, a lunch was kindly delivered to me. After a short break, the platform party for the second ceremony is beginning to file in.

And we're off again!

There isn't much to say about the second ceremony, except it was hot and long. And look at my sagging shoulders.

But wait, we're not done yet!

We still have to pack up our equipment and move across the park to Ira Allen Chapel, because now it is time to caption the College of Medicine graduation ceremony.

You'd never know this person had already captioned for eight solid hours, would you? Look at this smile. (Foster had provided me with a cold Gatorade.)

Also: Girl loves her work.

The Dean of the Medical School

The President of the University

Take a closer look at this photo. When this was taken, the featured speaker was speaking at 270 words per minute (as per the speed meter in my software), for at least a solid 20 minutes. I do not know how I pulled this out of my brain and my fingers, but I did. (Must have been the Gatorade.)

Take a look at that sound engineer to the left of me. He is watching intently. We had only just met on the Friday evening before this (this was late Sunday afternoon). When I finished this speech, Foster made like he was getting a fire extinguisher to put out the fire on my hands and keyboard, and that guy next to me gave me a high-five and said, "That. Was. Beautiful."

Girl gets jazzed abouther work.

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If you would like to provide, or ask for, captions for your event, or would like more information about me and what I do, please visit my captioning and CART website.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Even though life is somewhat nutsy-cuckoo (happily so), I found some time this weekend to get the veggie garden organized, visit several garden centers and farm shops, and plunk a few plants in the ground, to round out the things I planted back in the beginning of April.

My quest to "cut back" because we can't eat all the produce somehow still left me with no place to plant any beans. I do not know how that happened. But anyway... I guess when I harvest the garlic, I'll get a later-season planting of beans in the real estate the garlic is taking up. It'll have to do.

A few photos of the garden goodness:

Lettuces that we've been eating for quite a while now, various greens, herbs (mint, chamomile, borage), baby beets that you probably can't see, and baby Swiss chard too.

Kale (Winterbor), broccoli rabe, mint.

Shallots and red onions.

The broccoli is thriving.

A new thing for me: a sweet potato. Should be fun to see how it does.

A broader view. You can see arugula, marigolds, rosemary, eggplants, peppers, radishes....

Garlic's coming along fine...

The ill-fitting popup mesh net on the right is trying to protect zucchini plants from squash borers.

A nice row of gourmet red and fingerling potatoes that I put in in early April...

But there is some garden sadness, too. My asparagus has been quite fruitful, but I am fighting a bloody battle with asparagus beetles.

These are the nasty, nasty buggers that I can't seem to keep ahead of this year. They don't respond to insecticidal soap, so I'm trying to keep them hand-picked and squished as much as possible. But with my schedule as it has been, the "as much as possible" has not been all that successful. Makes me want to cry. After all those years of trying to get the asparagus to be plentiful, I've finally succeeded, but much of it is being ruined by the beetles.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Whew! My Whirlwind Life of late included another wedding. This time I remembered my camera. "My Other Daughter" Ally got hooked yesterday, and we were privileged to attend.

The Wedding Tent

Occupy Ally's Wedding

(Guests could opt to stay in their tents or campers on this beautiful property.)

The Turner Farmhouse is on the island of my birth, but until Ally found it on the internet, I never knew it existed. Gorgeous and well priced.

The deck, the dock...

The view of the farmhouse from the lake side.

The groom (on the right).

Bosco, the ring-bearer. Or at least he was intended to be the ring-bearer. Then they thought about it and decided that if Bosco saw, say, a squirrel, the rings would be history. So he was just an honored guest. Good plan. He thoroughly enjoyed himself and had plenty of room to run on the property. His Auntie Asya walked him in. Excellent!

The lovely bride and her parents

This kiss -- no further explanation needed

Cool bar.

Beautiful place settings

"Find the fish with your name on it"

Mine was the only one with grass in it. I know that was a special message from Ally or Asya -- I'm not sure which. (Thanks, girls. I noticed.)

Sunset shot

And now, my feet are sore from the dancing, and I have to find the energy to plant the garden. AND the roses are in bloom -- in May! ("Hello, climate change!" says my friend Sue. Indeed.) So you know what that means... It's time to make the rose petal jam.